Attachments

Step 2: Rear LED Heatsink

Drill holes on the flat for attaching two aluminum angles on each side and the rear LED. The four 45 degree facing LEDs would attach to the angles.

Make threaded holes on the edges of the four angles which would hold the side LEDs.

Step 3: Front LED Heatsink

Drill and tap four holes on the angles which would hold the front LED. The screws would protect the lens holder.

Step 4: LEDs Attached to the Heatsinks

Use JB Weld to attach the LEDs to the heatsinks.

Step 5: LEDs Wired

The LEDs will be wired in series. For extra flexibility, you can use silicone insulated wires.

Step 6: LEDs With Lenses

Carve the lens holders to make room for the wires.

Attach the lens holder on top of the LEDs with hot glue.

Attach the lenses to their holders.

Step 7: Self-Levelling Mount for the LEDs

To properly aim the rear light, a self-levelling mount should be used. I used two layers of plastic from a bottle for rigidity.

Drill the plastic strip for the cable ties.

Drill one hole on each side for the screw used for holding the light. The holes should be levelled.

Once levelled, trim off any excess plastic.

Step 8: Circuit

The circuit is similar to that of my daytime visible bike light except that it uses a step-up converter instead of a step-down converter. The LED's forward voltage must be higher than the battery's voltage. If you're using red or yellow LEDs, the battery's voltage should be less than 1.5V per LED to prevent them from glowing during standby. That means if there are six LEDs, your battery pack should not exceed 9V.

Attachments

Step 11: Light Installed on the Helmet

Use velcro to attach the battery holder, front LED, and the circuit's enclosure to your helmet.

Step 12: Possible Upgrades

Use Cree LEDs for higher efficiency.

Move the front side lights to the front of the helmets to balance the weight and improve visibility if there are other accessories.

Use thinner and smaller aluminum bars to reduce the weight.

Use smaller footprint LEDs to allow smaller heatsinks to be used.

Step 13: Using the Circuit for Bike Lights

If you want to build a bike light, you can use the same circuit board. If you increase the battery pack's voltage, you may need to change the values of R1 and R2, and change the value of batteryCutoffADC in the code.

I used the same circuit board for my 10 LED tail light shown in the video.

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5 Comments

While the enhanced visibility of the biker is more than welcome, I'm a bit worried that the metal heatsinks could be dangerous in case of an accident. Anything mounted on a helmet (even a small, light plastic action camera) can weaken the structure of the helmet on impact so that the helmet would not be able to protect the wearer as intended, and these large metal objects could cause serious injury. You might consider using "outdoor" (weatherproof) LED strips (a 60 LED/m 5050 strip can be pretty shiny), mounted on a narrow, flexible aluminium band (for heat dissipaton and and for easier mounting on the helmet).

Thanks for the idea! It would be good for side visibility too and it's lighter. I was considering luxeon because they have half the diameter LEDs so that I can shrink the heatsink by half. I now use an sjcam m10 camera. It's like the gopro.